What The Future Has In Store

  I often wonder lately what the future has in store for me. I'll be the first to admit that I don't have my life mapped out, and I don't intend to anytime soon. I don't know where I wanna go or what I wanna do. I don't have a plan. The good news is that God has a plan for each and every one of us. Some people go through life knowing where they wanna go and what they wanna do. The thing is, Gods plan doesn't always align with their plan. Because He has bigger plans than you could ever imagine for yourself. And for people like me, who don't have a plan, we take comfort in the fact that God has a plan for us. However, I think it's hard for most everyone to accept that fact. It can be scary walking into your future without any clue as to what's gonna happen. It can be equally scary walking into your future with a plan, but also the worry that not everything is always gonna happen the way you want it to. My point is that no matter who you are, the future is a scary thing. But it becomes significantly less terrifying when we accept the fact that God knows everything that's gonna happen before it happens, and that God's plan for all of our lives is what's best for us, and ultimately better than any plan we could ever make for ourselves. All we need to do, is trust God, and His perfect plan.

Thrive vs. Survive

I've been thinking about the concept of pain a lot in the last couple days. Physical and emotional. And I got to wondering if it's ever really supposed to stop. I mean with every scratch comes a scar, with every sickness comes a side effect, with every serious injury comes an after effect, and with every heartbreak comes a million memories following close behind. Sometimes pain just doesn't stop. I injured my ankle a year and a half ago and it has yet to heal. And it doesn't really ever feel good, I just sort of get used to the pain. And when I run through it, even though it hurts like heck, somehow it doesn't feel so much like a burden. My heart broke a month and a half ago, and that has yet to get any less painful. It also has yet to get any easier whatsoever. So here's what I'm thinking, when it comes to pain, is it supposed to stop? Or simply get easier to cope with? So far I don't have an answer to this. But what I do know is that some wounds just don't heal. What I also know is that some do. Which is where I get confused. Some things hurt more than other things. Some things are easier to bounce back from. And some are a lot harder. But what are you supposed to do with pain so great that you can barely even fathom it? Does it get better? Does it heal? Or does it just get different? And does it make you different along with it? It's not always easy to wait for an answer to these questions. So we cope. We get by. But living isn't getting by day by day. That's surviving. And I don't know about you, but I don't wanna live to survive. I wanna live to thrive, That's what living organisms are supposed to do, we're supposed to thrive. And it's hard to thrive when you're simply getting by day after day.

Pick Yourself Up

As someone who has dealt with a fair amount of loss recently I'm coming to realize that missing someone is probably one of the worst feelings that I have ever experienced. Especially when the person you're missing can't come back. It's like a part of you suddenly goes missing until you get it back. Sometimes you do get it back, but sometimes you can't. What do you do then? Do you just fall down and cry, admitting defeat and never accepting this loss that has effected you so much? Or do you fall down and then pick yourself up, and move forward? Well I personally lean towards the latter. Missing someone hurts for a while, but that's no excuse to give up on anything. This wonderful life of ours is not something that will always be easy, and we're gonna miss someone everyday of our lives, sometimes even without realizing it. And while when knowing that we won't have to miss someone forever makes the feeling easier, that doesn't mean that it's not gonna be hard. I have come to find recently that when I lose someone I'm close to it's much easier to cope with when you have the Lord in your heart, patching up the hole that the loss of someone left in you, until you see them again one day. I find a certain peace in knowing that God is the one thing I'll never have to miss, because He's always with me, no matter who leaves me, or what I'm going through, or how I'm choosing to cope with what I'm going through, or even when I do something wrong. God's not going anywhere. And sometimes that makes personal loss easier somehow. It doesn't mean I'll stop missing the people I have lost one way or another. It just means that I can pick myself up, and move forward, despite how difficult it may be to do so.

SuperHuman

A few months ago I entered a Young Authors writing competition for my online school. I contemplated wether or not I really wanted to do it for a while. And after a lot of contemplation and procrastination I wrote a last minute non-fictional paper about heroism and submitted it through the mail four days before it was due. On Thursday of last week I received and much to my excitement and surprise I actually won in the non-fiction category, and my submission is headed to the state competition. I honestly didn't think it was good enough to win and even if it was I certainly didn't think it would get there in time. But what can I say, God is good. I shared this on Google+ when I first wrote it to see what people thought, but I'll post it on here too. Of everything I've written this is probably my best and personal favorite. It's a little over 1200 words so it's a bit lengthy, but I hope you enjoy it.

Superhuman

The dictionary tells us that a hero is a person, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. A few commonly known heroes who may fit the definition of a hero are Captain America, Iron Man, Superman, Batman, and many others. But I feel like too often, these superheroes are taken as an example of what heroes should be. But in reality that’s hardly the case. You don’t need superpowers, a nickname, or a fancy outfit to be a hero. You just need a general knowledge of right and wrong. Growing up we all had heroes, people we looked up too, someone that we wanted to be like when we got older. For some of us that may have been a dad, or a big brother, or even a fictional superhero. For others it may have been a best friend, or a teacher, or a coach. And we looked up to those people for specific reasons, maybe it was the way that they stood up for what was right, even if it wasn’t easy. Or perhaps it was the way that they stood up to the bully at school. Or the way they showed kindness to someone who may not have deserved it. They had noble qualities, which basically just means good genuine character. The defining characteristics of the superheroes that we read about in comic books, or watch on the big screen can be found in everyday people, just like you and me. An ordinary person can be just as courageous and brave as a superhero can be. We may not have the whole world watching us on TV, and sometimes no one will see us at all, but a friend once told me that we do what is right because it is the right thing to do. And that includes the times when it may not be easy, or seen.

The thing you might also notice about the superheroes in movies, is that they all have a personal battle that they struggle with aside from saving millions of people. Well believe it or not everybody struggles with something, all the time. And sometimes all we need is someone to show us kindness and give us a helping hand when we need it most. If you do that for someone, that makes you a hero. You may not have saved a city, or even a life, but you don’t always need to save someone’s life to qualify for the title of “hero”. Sometimes all it takes is giving someone hope when they have none, or making a small effort to make a bad day a good one, or just making a difference in their life. Every good hero started with a role model of their own, that person who turned their bad day into a not so bad day, and stuck around, and that’s all it took to make someone a hero in the eyes of at least one person. And before to long the influence tends to rub off, and that kid who needed a role model becomes a role model. But heroes have bad days too, and it’s days like that when a hero might need saving too.
That brings me to the heroes that have gone down in history. People like Martin Luther King and Jackie Robinson. They both fought for the same thing, and I’m sure you know what that is. They just fought for it differently. Now these men and many other historical figures like George Washington, were all remembered for doing something remarkable. George Washington was the very first president of the United States, it was a big responsibility. He was in charge of running and protecting an entire nation, he had the rest of the government but I’m sure it was pretty terrifying at first. I mean, it was the first time anybody was in charge of the entire U.S. But he made an impact, he was a historical hero. But if nobody had remembered him, do you think he’d still be a hero? He most definitely would be. Just because nobody remembers it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It doesn’t mean that you’re any less of a hero. A hero doesn’t do something for glory or fame, they do it because it’s right. I’m sure Jackie Robinson didn’t know that he was gonna make such a big difference, he was just doing what he loved to do. Yet he made a difference anyway, and so many kids and people in general have looked up to him. But even if he hadn’t have been remembered, he still would’ve made a difference, and he still would’ve been a hero. You can be a hero in many respects and sometimes in the most little, but important ways. And that isn’t always gonna be remembered, and sometimes that makes it seem like our efforts aren’t important, or worth it. But it doesn’t change the fact that you did the right thing. Doing the right thing when no one’s watching isn’t always easy, but you walk away feeling better about yourself and if you ask me, that makes it worth it.
When I think about heroes though I often times like to turn to the Bible. And the two things that come to mind first are Jesus, and David (as in David And Goliath). David took a small stone and a slingshot and killed a giant, and not only does that take a lot of guts and bravery, it takes a lot of faith too. But while his bravery was rewarded, he didn’t expect them to be. He didn’t expect anything, he just did the right thing because it was the right thing to do. And Jesus lived on earth as a human and was hung on a cross and punished for absolutely nothing. He didn’t do anything wrong yet he took the punishment anyway, for everybody in the world. He suffered hatred and a cruel punishment for the benefit of all of us. He was the greatest hero of all, and He didn’t have any superpowers, He just had faith and love, and it was enough. People hated Jesus, but His whole life on earth He did what He knew was right in spite of what it led to. And in my mind He’s the greatest role model and hero that we have. The heroism that we see in the Bible is some of the best examples that could’ve been set for us, because when the right thing is done, it’s done with courage and kindness, and without the expectation of reward, and sometimes without even being seen.
Heroes are everywhere. They’re sitting next to a friend in need, or helping an old lady across an icy street, defeating a giant with a stone and his trusty slingshot, or maybe even on the big screen shooting webs and swinging across New York City. A hero can be literally anyone, all it takes is good character and a good knowledge of right and wrong. Then the right thing gets done the right way, and sometimes the hard way. We all have the potential to be someone’s hero, or role model, even those of you who are reading this. There’s a certain comfort in someone being your hero, whether it be a childhood role model or just a role model in general, because one thing you can always count on a hero for is being there when you need them most.


Until Next time,
Alayna